Chapter 30 - The Abandoned Pawn

The living room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The two men faced each other in silence for a long time before Chen Kai finally spoke in a low voice:
“As your agent, I have the right to know all your whereabouts and your entire personal life. I suppose I don’t need to repeat this, do I? It’s written in black and white in the contract you signed with the company!”
“So what?”
Cheng Yishu seemed eager to end the conversation, bent down to pick up the jacket he’d tossed aside, and headed for the door…
“Fine, let me make it even clearer! Even if we can’t be friends, we’re colleagues. To put it bluntly—we’re a community of interests. I hope you can respect me and allow me to fulfill my duties as your agent…”
“You just want to monitor me, control me, don’t you?”
Cheng Yishu suddenly turned, glaring at Chen Kai and barking coldly,
“I thought you were different from the others, but it turns out I overestimated you, Chen Kai… If you’d handled me and our work like this from the start, at least I would have thought you were an agent with your own ideas. But now, all those things you did, taking me out to bars, eating together, were just tricks to break down my defenses…”
“Cheng Yishu, you need to understand that the reason we’re tied together is work. If you can’t even do your job well and achieve something, forget about bars and dinners… you won’t even be able to maintain the basic necessities of daily life!”
Chen Kai finally lost his temper, staring straight into Cheng Yishu’s face!
Cheng Yishu paused for a moment, blurting out,
“What do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean?”
Chen Kai sneered at him,
“You’re enjoying your life as a superstar, aren’t you? You don’t go online? You don’t pay attention to your popularity or the reception of your projects? You don’t even know your commercial value is declining?”
He slowly walked up to Cheng Yishu, hands in his pockets, his eyes and brows icy as he continued,
“Do you know why Tan Jing let go of you so easily? Because she saw the situation clearly. You—Cheng Yishu—your character ensures you’ll never stand on a higher stage. You’ve always made Tan Jing your goal, and all your efforts have been about proving to her that you can be the dazzling idol she admires. And you did achieve that, but you refuse to push harder, to reach perfection…”
“Tan Jing saw no future in you, so she chose Qin Xingyu, whose manner and appearance were much like yours when she first met you. She wants to try again, to see if she can create a superstar with her own hands… As fellow agents, I understand her feelings well, and seeing your attitude now, I understand even more just how deeply disappointed Tan Jing is…”
“What are you even talking about?”

As Cheng Yishu forced out these words through clenched teeth, his hands already balled tightly into fists, he threw aside his jacket and grabbed Chen Kai’s collar with bloodshot eyes…
Chen Kai wasn’t short, but he definitely wasn’t as tall as Cheng Yishu. Now, forced to lift his head by the grip on his collar, he could look him right in the eye!
“What am I saying?”
Chen Kai met his gaze without flinching, speaking in a steady voice, “I’m saying I’m very disappointed in you—just like Tan Jing is.”
“Chen Kai… Don’t think you can boss me around just because you’re my agent. And I’ll say it again—don’t mention her!”
Cheng Yishu’s neck veins bulged, ready to swing his fist at any moment!
“What’s wrong? Are you so afraid of hearing her name, or do you think I’ve hit a sore spot?”
A cold light shot from Chen Kai’s sparse lashes, meeting Cheng Yishu’s eyes without evasion, as he continued,
“A discarded pawn—what right do you have to speak so loudly…”
A dull thud echoed through the empty living room as Cheng Yishu’s fist crashed into Chen Kai’s face.
The forceful blow sent Chen Kai stumbling backward, landing heavily on the floor. He wiped the burning corner of his mouth, tasting a faint bitterness…
“I told you, don’t talk about her like that!”
Cheng Yishu, still furious, stepped forward, dropped to one knee, and seized Chen Kai’s disheveled collar and tie once more…
“Heh…”
Chen Kai lowered his eyes, saw Cheng Yishu trembling with rage, yet refusing to let go of him, and suddenly laughed coldly…
“Cheng Yishu, do you think your fists can shatter the truth?”
Such simple words, with a deeper meaning, made Cheng Yishu’s hair stand on end.
Slowly, he loosened his hands, which had stopped trembling but still gripped Chen Kai’s collar…

The silence in the room became strange once more, until Cheng Yishu, drained of strength, let go and sat down on the floor with a vacant, defeated look in his eyes…
On this stage, every day someone steps into the spotlight, and every day someone steps down.
The phrase “rowing against the current, not advancing is retreating,” from books, could not be more apt for the ever-changing tides of the entertainment industry!
Now twenty-five, Cheng Yishu was still considered a top star in an industry dominated by fresh faces, but everyone knew: without good works, popularity was fleeting, vanishing in an instant…
Cheng Yishu didn’t come from a formal acting background, had never studied professionally, relying only on talent and the affection of the public… He’d come this far purely on that.
Except for those years as a trainee, his life after debut could be described as “smooth sailing,” so he’d long developed a sense of pride.
Tan Jing had urged him, time and again, to focus more on his work, to maintain good relations with the media and keep his fanbase steady, but Cheng Yishu only brushed her off, his mind filled with plans for a future where both he and Tan Jing could return to an ordinary life…
Over time, Tan Jing stopped pushing him, stopped mentioning how to keep up with fans…
And then came rumors of her dating a wealthy businessman!
All this happened after he returned from three months locked away with a film crew.
He would never forget Tan Jing’s final confrontation, their last meeting before the wedding.
It turned out Tan Jing’s withdrawal from forcing him to do things he disliked wasn’t compromise, nor surrender!
It was simply abandonment—she’d given up on him, and chosen someone else to start anew!
This made Cheng Yishu begin to reconsider, to reflect: where had Tan Jing’s feelings for him truly come from all these years?
Or perhaps, it had all been wishful thinking on his part…